Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Despite lack of independently verified evidence, Trump at first press conference after winning Nov. 8, 2016 election agreed that Russia "hacked" the election and that Putin "shouldn't have done it"-ABC News, Jan. 11, 2017...(Trump also chose to hire NSA chief Mike Rogers already on record saying Putin hacked the election to tip it to Trump. Why would you hire someone who thinks your election was a fraud?)

Last week Trump and President Barack Obama were separately briefed on a
classified intelligence report on Russia's alleged interference in the
2016 presidential election. A declassified version was released afterward that said Putin ordered a campaign to influence the contest between Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

"We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence
campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election. Russia's goals
were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process,
denigrate Secretary Clinton and harm her electability and potential
presidency," the report reads, citing the Russian government's
"long-standing desire to undermine the U.S.-led liberal democratic
order."

"We further assess Putin and the Russian government developed a clear
preference for President-elect Trump," the report continues, saying
Putin nursed a "grudge" against Clinton "for comments he almost
certainly saw as disparaging."

At the press conference Trump said it would be "very important" to
develop a "hacking defense" because "the United States is hacked by
everybody."

When asked by ABC News' Jonathan Karl whether he accepted that the
Russian president ordered the influence campaign in favor of a Trump
victory, Trump continued to assert that the United States will benefit
from a stronger relationship with Moscow.

"We have a horrible relationship with Russia," he responded. "If Putin
likes Donald Trump — guess what, folks — that’s called an asset, not a
liability."

Trump said the Russian government will have "far greater respect" for
the United States with him at the helm, adding that he will be "tougher"
on Putin than Clinton would have been.